Southbrook plunges into Raging Waters: Beverly Hills firm acquires theme park for $10 million.

Southbrook plunges into Raging Waters 

The Raging Waters theme park in San Dimas, where hundreds of thousands of Angelenos cool their heels each summer, was sold last week to the Southbrook Corp. of Beverly Hills for about $10 million.

Seller of the 44-acre park was a group headed by Bryant Morris, original developer of Raging Waters.

The sale was transacted just six days prior to the scheduled opening of Raging Waters' peak operating season and the unveiling of its new $1 million "Amazon Adventure" attraction.

That attraction, scheduled to open June 6, consists of a 1,000-foot-long tropically landscaped waterway through which patrons are transported on oversized inner tubes.

Amazon Adventure is the centerpiece of a $1.5 million capital improvement program just completed by Morris' group.

The park also commenced its summer schedule of daily operating hours June 6. Prior to that, the park had only been open on weekends.

Morris was in Hawaii last week and unavailable to explain the timing of the sale.

But Kent Lemasters, general manager of Raging Waters, said Morris chose to sell Raging Waters because Southbrook presented him with "an irresistible offer" and Morris wanted to concentrate on developing seaside shopping centers.

"Bryant Morris has been specializing in (developing) these oceanfront boardwalk specialty villages for several years now," Lemasters said. "He's developing one in Hawaii right now, and he'll be over there (in Hawaii) for the next three weeks."

Once Morris decided to sell Raging Waters, his two partners agreed to go along. Morris' partners are a group of top executives from Montreal-based Ivaco Steel Corp. and a Beverly Hills-based investment firm called Lipkin Inc.

Southbrook officials refused to comment on their company's purchase last week. They referred all calls to Lemasters, who reported Southbrook plans to keep the park's management team in place.

Lemasters pointed out that, while most other Southland theme parks have been slumping in recent months, Raging Waters has continued to enjoy steady increases in attendance and profits.

He refused to specify net income earned from the privately owned park. But he did say the park's attendance has risen an average of 16 percent per year since its 1983 opening. The park's 1990 attendance of 625,000 was a 22 percent improvement from the prior year, representing the largest annual jump yet, he said.

Raging Waters will not be the first theme park owned by Beverly Hills-based Southbrook Corp. The company had previously owned a water-oriented theme park in Spain, an entertainment theme park in Australia and an animal safari park in England.

All those parks had been sold off in recent years, leaving the holding company with its England-based film production outfit as its only operating company.

Southbrook decided a few months ago to get back into the theme park business.

"Southbrook enjoyed success in the theme park business and was interested in obtaining an established park in a large metropolitan area," Lemasters said. "Raging Waters was one of several parks they looked at, and they decided it was the one that best met their business strategy."

The park presently shuts down each year from mid-October until mid-April, then opens for weekends from mid-April until early June, and finally commences daily operations in June.

But Southbrook is already considering further expansion of Raging Waters' schedule.

"We're looking at some off-season operational opportunities, such as possibly catered events with a festive atmosphere for Christmas and Halloween," Lemasters said. "But they wouldn't involve the water attractions."

Admission prices to the park are based on customers' heights. Customers taller than 48 inches pay $16.95; those between 42 and 48 inches tall pay $8.95; and children shorter than 42 inches in height get in free if accompanied by an adult.

PHOTO : Raging Waters' slide: Attendance is up